| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Sansad / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
10 April 2008 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the directly elected seats in the Constituent Assembly. |
Elections to the 601-member Constituent Assembly had been due before mid-June 2007
but were postponed twice
due mainly to disagreement between the main political forces over the electoral system and the future status of the King. The immediate abolition of the monarchy was the key demand of Nepalese Maoists who had led ten years of rebellions
in which over 13
000 people died. The Constituent Assembly was established on 27 May 2008 with the task of adopting the country's new Constitution within two years.
The country had last held parliamentary elections in May 1999. The centrist Nepali Congress Party (NC) of the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala won 111 seats of the 205 seats in the House of Representatives
the lower chamber of the bi-cameral Parliament. Its coalition partner
the Nepali Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist
UML) won 71 seats. After the elections
Mr. Koirala's rival
Mr. Krishna Prasad Bhattarai (NC) became Prime Minister. Mr. Bhattarai resigned in March 2000 and was succeeded by Mr. Koirala. Following the Royal Palace massacre in June 2001 (in which Prince Dipendra killed King Birendra
the Queen
and seven other royals before killing himself)
Prince Regent Gyanendra ascended the throne. Mr. Koirala resigned as prime minister and Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba succeeded him. The latter subsequently formed a new faction
the Nepali Congress (Democratic)
(NCD).
The House of Representatives was dissolved on 22 May 2002 in order to hold early parliamentary elections. Following Maoist rebels' threat to disrupt the elections
Prime Minister Deuba asked the King to defer the polls by a year. The King then dismissed the government and subsequently postponed the elections indefinitely. On 1 February 2005
King Gyanendra assumed absolute direct power over the kingdom
accusing the government of failing to make arrangements for parliamentary elections. Many members of the NC and the UML - including the UML leader Mr. Amrit Kumar Bohara and general secretary Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal - were placed under house arrest. Parliament was unable to meet since the Constitution stipulated that the National Assembly (the upper chamber) could not be convened without the House of Representatives.
On 24 April 2006
following a wave of street protests calling for elections as soon as possible
King Gyanendra agreed to reinstate the House of Representatives. The reinstated House of Representatives held its first sitting on 28 April 2006. Mr. Koirala was elected Prime Minister.
After numerous postponements
an interim constitution was promulgated by the House of Representatives on 15 January 2007
following the peace agreement of 8 November 2006 between the major political parties and Maoist rebels. The House of Representatives then dissolved itself in favour of a unicameral 330-member interim legislature
called the Legislative Parliament. This interim legislature comprised all members of the previous parliament (with the exception of three members who had been appointed by the King)
83 Maoists and representatives of the major political parties. These parties formed a ruling alliance that included the NC
the UML
the NCD and nine other small parties. In September 2007
the NCD and the NC merged under the leadership of Prime Minister Koirala.
On 23 December 2007
the signature of a 23-point understanding paved the way for elections to the 601-member Constituent Assembly under a mixed electoral system. The agreement foresees that 335 members are elected through the proportional representation system while 240 others are chosen through the first-past-the-post system (F.P.T.P). The remaining 26 members are nominated by the Prime Minister from minority groups who do not win representation in the elections. On 29 December
the interim Legislative Parliament adopted a third amendment to the interim constitution
declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic. The decision to abolish the 240-year monarchy would come into force after endorsement at the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly.
In all
3
937 candidates
including 368 women
were vying for the seats in the Constituent Assembly. Over 3
000 candidates were from 70 political parties while some 800 candidates stood as independents.
The main protagonists all pledged to establish a strong and prosperous multi-party federal democratic republic. The media focused on whether the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) led by Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (better known as "Prachanda") would gain enough seats to stay in the democratic process. The Maoists campaigned on a less radical manifesto than in the past. For example they did not call for the nationalization of assets
and pledged to invite foreign investment for economic development.
Former prime minister Kamal Thapa of the National Democratic Party (Rastriya Prajatantra) campaigned in support of the monarchy. The National People's Power (Rastriya Janashakti) Party and four other royalist parties formed the United Inclusive Front (Samyukta Samabeshi Morcha
see note) in February 2008
which pledged to work with everyone committed to democracy.
During the election campaign period
nearly 30 people were killed. Nevertheless
voting took place in relative peace on election day. Over 63 per cent of the country's 17 million registered voters turned out for the elections.
Over 800 international observers monitored the polls. The Election Observation Mission (EOM) of the European Union (EU) praised the level of turnout and concluded the elections were generally successful.
The final results gave a victory to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists)
which won a total of 220 seats. The NC and CPN-UML took 110 and 103 seats respectively. In all
25 parties won representation in the Constituent Assembly.
After the vote
parties which won seats under the proportional representation system submitted their lists of names (including women
Madhesi
indigenous and marginalized people). In all 191 women were elected (29 under the majority system and 162 under the proportional representation system).
On 27 May
the Constituent Assembly held its first session. The following day
it voted to abolish the monarchy
declaring Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic.
Disputes over the composition of the new government
as well as the demand by the Madhesi People's Rights Forum Nepal (MPRF) for the 'autonomous Madhes province'
delayed the election of a new Speaker of the Constituent Assembly.
On 8 July
Maoists
the NC
the UML and the MPRF agreed to add a provision to article 138 of the interim constitution
referring to Nepal as a federal democratic country with various autonomous states.
593 candidates took part in the first ever presidential elections on 19 July. In the run-off elections held on 21 July
Mr. Ram Baran Yadav
General Secretary of the NC
defeated the Maoist candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh. On 23 July
Mr. Koirala officially tendered his resignation as Prime Minister.
On 24 July
Mr. Subas Nembang (UML)
who had served as Speaker of the Legislative Parliament
was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly.
On 15 August
the Constituent Assembly elected Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Maoists) as Prime Minister. He was sworn in on 18 August. He subsequently formed a six-party coalition government comprising his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists)
the UML
the MPRF
the Communist Party of Nepal (United)
the Nepal Goodwill Party (Sadhvawana) and the People's Front Nepal (Janamorcha). His 23-member cabinet
including four women
was sworn in on 22 August.
Note:
The composing members of the United Inclusive Front and their number of seats:
National People's Power (Rastriya Janashakti): 3
Rastriya Janamukti Party: 2
Dalit Janajati Party: 1
Nepal Rastriya Janabhawana Party: 0
Rastriya Jana Ekata Party: 0 |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 10 April 2008 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
17'611'832
11'146'540 (63.29%)
407'462
10'739'078 |
|
Notes
|
Statistics above refer to PR system.
Statistics for Majority system
Number of registered electors: 17
611
832
Voters: 10
866
131 (61.70%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers: 560
011
Valid votes: 10
306
120 |
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Majority |
PR |
|
|
| Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) |
220
|
120 |
100 |
|
|
| Nepali Congress (NC) |
110
|
37 |
73 |
|
|
| Communist Party of Nepal (UML) |
103
|
33 |
70 |
|
|
| Madhesi People's Rights Forum Nepal |
52
|
30 |
22 |
|
|
| Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party |
20
|
9 |
11 |
|
|
| Others |
19
|
0 |
19 |
|
|
| Nepal Goodwill Party (Sadhvawana) |
9
|
4 |
5 |
|
|
| Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist) |
8
|
0 |
8 |
|
|
| National Democratic Party (Rastriya Prajatantra
RPP) |
8
|
0 |
8 |
|
|
| People's Front Nepal (Janamorcha) |
7
|
2 |
5 |
|
|
| Communist Party of Nepal (Samyukta) |
5
|
0 |
5 |
|
|
| National Democratic Party Nepal (Rastriya Prajatantra
RPP-N) |
4
|
0 |
4 |
|
|
| Nepal Workers and Peasants Party |
4
|
2 |
2 |
|
|
| National People's Front (Rastriya Janamorcha) |
4
|
1 |
3 |
|
|
| Independents |
2
|
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
404
197
32.78%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
191 women were directly elected while six others were nominated by the Prime Minister.
Sources:
- http://www.nepalelectionportal.org/EN/constituent-assembly/
- Constituent Assembly (04.06.2008
28.07.2008
24.09.2008)
- Election Commission (06.07.2008)
Note on the distribution of the seats:
"Others" include the following parties.
Rastriya Janshakti Party: 3
Rastriya Janamukti Party: 2
Communist Party of Nepal (United): 2
Nepal Sadhvawana Party (Anandidevi): 2
Nepali Janata Dal: 2
Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch: 2
Samajwadi Prajatantrik Janata Party: 1
Dalit Janajati Party: 1
Nepal Pariwar Dal: 1
Nepa: Rastriya Party: 1
Nepal Lokatantrik Samajbadi Dal: 1
Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekata Party:1
Note on the distribution of seats according to political parties for the 26 nominated members:
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists): 9 (3 women)
Nepali Congress (NC): 5 (1 woman)
Communist Party of Nepal (UML): 5 (2 women)
Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF): 2
Terai-Madhes Loktantrik Party TMDP: 1
People's Front Nepal (PFN): 1
Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist): 1
Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP): 1
As at 3 October 2008
there was one vacant seat.
Note on the vacant seats:
As at 3 October 2008
there were seven vacant seats.
- five members were elected from two constituencies in the general elections. Their seats will be filled by by-elections;
- Mr. Ram Baran Yadav vacated his seat following his election as the President on 21 July;
- one nominated member refused to take oath. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
